Galatea by Madeline Miller

In ancient Greece, a skilled marble sculptor has been blessed by a goddess who has given his masterpiece—the most beautiful woman the town has ever seen—the gift of life. After marrying her, he expects Galatea to please him, to be obedience and humility personified. But she has desires of her own and yearns for independence.

In a desperate bid by her obsessive husband to keep her under control, Galatea is locked away under the constant supervision of doctors and nurses. But with a daughter to rescue, she is determined to break free, whatever the cost...

Galatea is an incredible short story. The story is based on a Greek tale Metamorphoses. A (male) sculptor creates a (woman) sculpture so beautiful it comes to life and they live happily ever after. She has no agency, nor a name.

Millers version is told from the woman’s point of view living with a controlling man. It feels like it could be a Colleen Hoover story, yet keeps its fantastical tone of Millers other works.

The afterward ties directly to this theme:

For millennia there have been men who react with horror and disgust to women's independence, men who desire women yet hate them, and who take refuge in fantasies of purity and control. What would it be like to live with such a man as your husband?

I fully admit I read this to keep up with my Goodreads goal for the year. It's also been on my to-read list ever since I finished Circe and Song of Achilles, so it wasn't entirely picked for ulterior reasons. I'm actually glad I gave this a chance, it was very short but also very engaging.

It takes the name from a Nereid from mythology, but as far as I can tell, the rest of the story has nothing to do with the actual (fairly sparse) story. It's actually more like a perspective-flipped Pygmalion, which is acknowledged by the author in the afterword and in other reviews here.

It was actually kind of a super creepy story that I expected to go a different way. I kept reading (for the half hour or so I spent with it) to find out where things were headed, and didn't even mind that it's a bit lacking in depth.

So, not only did it keep me and my arbitrary Goodreads goal afloat another week, I actually really enjoyed it. Definitely read either Circe or Song of Achilles first if you haven't yet, but this is a nice little bite-sized story after you're done with those.

Une courte nouvelle sympathique dans la Grèce antique. Madeline Miller a du talent pour écrire sur l'Antiquité, mais je pense que ce talent s'exprime réellement dans des textes plus longs, des romans en format d'épopée.

After finishing Circe and Song of Achilles, I was happy to see there was an additional Greek myth story by Miller. While it's only a short story, it strongly echoes the things I loved in C[b:Circe 35959740 Circe Madeline Miller https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1508879575s/35959740.jpg 53043399]. It's not for the faint of heart. Basically, All the Trigger Warnings. But I enjoyed Galatea's strong and clever character, and was satisfied with how it ended.